Oratorio Chorus Presents Free Concert April 28

Date:April 18, 2014

Dr. Geoffrey Holland conducts the Oratorio Chorus.

Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Oratorio Chorus will present Music of Hope and Consolation: works by Felix Mendelssohn and John Rutter at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 28, at the Church of Bethesda By-the-Sea, 141 South County Road in Palm Beach. The event is free, but complimentary tickets are required. Contact Ticket Central (561) 803-2970 or ticketcentral@pba.edu for tickets.

Directed by Dr. Geoffrey Holland, the chorus with orchestra will perform a program including Psalm 42 (SATB, in German, mvmt. 1), Hear My Prayer (Based on Psalm 55:1–7, in English, SATB with soprano soloist) and Verleih' uns Frieden ("Grant Us Peace," in German, SATB) by Mendelssohn.

After an intermission, the chorus will perform the Requiem by John Rutter, which is regarded as his greatest contribution to the world of serious choral music. The Requiem was written in 1985 and dedicated to the memory of his father, who had died the previous year. It employs a non-traditional approach, including movements based on scriptural texts: Psalm 130 (Out of the Deep) and Psalm 23 (The Lord Is My Shepherd), and excerpts from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The seven sections of the work form an arch-like meditation on the themes of life and death.

John Rutter's thoughts on his Requiem: "For me it stands as a clear sign of humanity's quest for solace and light amidst the darkness and troubles of our age. Art, Andre Gide said, must bear a message of hope – a message which is embedded in the age-old texts of the Requiem Mass, and also in the Burial Service, some of which I have interpolated into the structure of the work."